There was a time when the independent music industry felt a gender imbalance with very few female-fronted bands around, denying female artistes the due opportunity, credit and recognition. This was the time when Drutaah, an all-female band was formed and made headlines a year ago.
The band’s journey according to the lead vocalist Parvathy has been a rollercoaster one. “We are proud to be the first all-women band from Kerala. Our journey this past year, we have faced many ups and downs. We have performed on big stages such as Aspirations 2018 by Kerala Police, a live concert conducted by Ewit in Technopark, Run Kerala by EMAK in Nishagandhi, where many legendary bands and musicians, too, performed,” she says.
Though they started by performing song covers, Drutaah now focuses on creating classical fusions with western structure. “We have original compositions inspired from the Carnatic music style. Our own compositions are made in specific Carnatic ragas. While one is done in varali, another one is composed in hamsanadam,” Parvathy adds. They have also incorporated Kathakali-inspired imagery into their tracks.
Before the formation of the band, they were all active independent musicians. The band now features Vagu Mazan (lead guitar), Vaishnavy Kannan (bass guitar), Aleena (keys), Mirza and Ananya (drummers and percussions), Malavika and Veda (violin) and the lead vocalist Sivaparvathy, Adithi and Vaishnavi.
Not every girl band has to scream ‘girl power’ to make an impact with their music. The formation of Drutaah itself was a big statement. The fact is that many women with a passion for music are tied up in social constraints; discriminating them against the men of equal passion who do not face those challenges. Parvathy, a founding member of the band, had been rejected many times at the start of her career which later inspired her to form the band.
Being an all-female band was tough for them in the early stages and Parvathy says it taught them a lot of lessons. “We struggled a lot from the word ‘go’. But things have changed in a big way and we are getting the recognition due to us. The increased number of invitations to festivals and concerts reflects it.”
Parvathy, apart from her association with the band, has been performing solo and has collaborated with other artists. “My latest project is a movie titled Paai directed by Sreelaja Mukundakumar. It is a women-oriented film which talks about human trafficking. The movie all features artists and crew from Hollywood and is being shot in the UK and in Kerala,” she adds.
Drutaah has been busy with a handful of live gigs including a large concert as part of the Women’s Day celebrations next month. “Beyond performing on stage, we hopes to inspire other, too,” said Parvathy.
